Cultural Theories

Oscar Lewis
1. Culture of poverty
  1. Norms and values which stop people escaping poverty
    1. Fatalism
      1. People are less likely to motivate themselves
  2. Caused by experiencing factors beyond your control
  3. Fatalistic attitudes are channelled through generations
2. Reasons for persistence
  1. Seeing children as economic resource
    1. Not getting a job
  2. High rates of divorce/desertion
    1. One income
3. Lewis had sympathy for the poor
  1. Culture of poverty helps them to cope with hardships
New Right (Marsland)
1. Overindulging people in benefits
  1. People should take responsabilty of themselves
2. Dependency Culture
3. Deserving and Undeserving poor
4. Means tested benefits should be encouraged
5. Inequality is needed as a deterrent
New Right (Murray)
1. Underclass
  1. Elements associated: Crime, illegitimacy, unemployment
2. Solution: Force people into employment

Resource summary

	Created by Kirbi almost 10 years ago